


baby let's get fresh (it's like we just met)

by cabooseachievables



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Jason is a waiter and Billy is his cute regular customer, M/M, Tommy Oliver is nonbinary and slightly interested in Zack, for cranscott week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-11-23 12:20:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11402307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cabooseachievables/pseuds/cabooseachievables
Summary: The only reason Jason Scott continued to work at T.G.I. Friday's was because he needed the money; his truck wasn’t going to magically repair itself, and the parts he needed were not cheap. So that left him to do this every Monday, Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday evening.It sucks, it really does, but that's before Billy Cranston becomes a regular customer.





	baby let's get fresh (it's like we just met)

**Author's Note:**

> For Cranscott Week Day #2: Favorite AU!! It's somewhat similar to my Trimberly "Morning Routines" fic, so if you guys want a part two from Billy's POV I'd gladly do so :)
> 
> Enjoy!

Working at T.G.I. Friday’s is absolutely terrible. Being a waiter at  _ any _ restaurant was probably a miserable job, but ever since the company brought back “endless apps,” the place had been way too busy. The only reason Jason Scott continued to work there was because he needed the money; his truck wasn’t going to magically repair itself, and the parts he needed were not cheap. So that left him to do this every Monday, Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday evening.

 

Sounds fun, right?

 

Not exactly. But sometimes it has it’s perks, you know? For example…

 

 

The door opens in the front section of the restaurant. The clock reads six o’clock on the nose, and Jason Scott can’t help but sigh in exhaustion. His shift is nowhere near over, and the dinner rush has only just started. There are families everywhere and it wouldn’t surprise him if they run out of tables soon. Either way, he has a job to do— so he picks up a couple of menus and finally takes the moment to look at whoever just walked in.

 

And… oh. He’s cute.

 

Whoever he is, he walks in with a shy smile on his face and a backpack slung over his shoulder. Jason clears his throat, and nearly chokes on his words as he tries to use the scripted employee lines.

 

“Good— Good evening. How many, uh, people will be joining you tonight?” Jason manages to say.

 

“Oh, just one,” the boy nods, and a part of Jason is relieved to know that it’s not a date. (Not that it’s his business or anything, because it’s definitely  _ not _ . Even if he’s cute and Jason has been oddly staring at him for a little too long.)

 

Quickly getting his shit together, Jason guides this lovely  _ average _ customer to the back of the restaurant where the remaining vacant tables are. There are a few booths by the window, so Jason gestures to it, figuring that it’s decent enough.

 

“Actually, can I sit over there?” The boy asks, pointing elsewhere and startling Jason. There’s an open table by the corner, next to one of their over-decorated walls with fake instruments and old photographs hanging on it. And, really, there’s no reason that he  _ can’t _ sit there, so Jason brings him over to it and lets him get situated.

 

Jason takes a step back awkwardly as he gestures somewhere else. Where? Who knows.  _ Away _ . “I’ll give you some time to think and I’ll be back soon to—”

 

“No it’s fine, I know what I want already.” The boy interrupts, pushing away the menu that had been placed in front of him. “I’ll have the endless apps. The first two rounds will be boneless buffalo chicken, and then the third will be mozzerella sticks. Oh! And for a drink I’ll have sprite. No ice, though.”

 

Jason struggled to write it all down at the speed he was listing off his order; it’s like the guy had it memorized from start to finish. He managed to do it, though; it is poorly written and the chef will definitely have a hard time reading it, sure, but at least it’s there. With a promise to return soon with the soda, Jason heads towards the kitchen with his order. He definitely catches some snickering coming from nearby, and doesn’t even bother looking to figure out who it is.

 

Tommy Oliver. His pain in the ass (but only friend) of a coworker, standing by the kitchen doors with a smirk on their face.

 

“You totally think he’s cute,” Tommy says, following Jason into the kitchen. So casual, as if they have no tables to be taking care of, when in reality the entire population of Angel Grove is out there. He leaves the order for the chef to take before stuffing away his notepad into a pocket.

 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jason replies. While his face is completely serious, he’s totally fighting the urge to look in the boy’s direction. It isn’t a believable response, but Tommy must understand that they have work to do instead of discussing this at the moment. They shake their head quietly before walking away, going to greet a new couple coming in.

 

Meanwhile, this family that Jason is in charge of might be the most  _ annoying _ family he’s ever seen. They have three loud and screaming children (which Jason has had to warn the parents about with a deceivingly calm,  _ ma’am we may have to ask you to leave if your children continue to be this disruptive, _ and a false smile). The mother has been yelling at her children for the past five minutes because of it. Jason is much too tired to deal with this, but he’s so close to his next paycheck that he can taste it. (It tastes like TGIF endless apps.)

 

When he finally makes his way back to the cute boy with a plate of chicken and a sprite in hand, Jason remembers why these gay feelings were occurring in the first place. The boy smiles at him, pure and wholesome.

 

“Thank you! You’re very fast,” he comments as he picks up a fork carefully. He never quite makes eye contact, instead drawn to the table or the fresh food. It doesn’t bother Jason very much. There is  _ definitely _ a blush on his face, though, because he might have made sure the chef would get to this order first. Jason can’t fight the genuine smile that appears on his own face, very different from the other forced ones with the loud mother and her devil children.

 

He returns to the back to check on some other orders in progress and runs into Tommy again.

 

“Are you going to get his number?” They ask, grinning and wiggling their eyebrows. So… his other answer was definitely waved off.

 

“I don’t know,” Jason sighs and rests against the wall. Of course he’d like to— but something feels different about this guy. It isn’t going to be as simple as just asking for a phone number.

 

Tommy scoffs, picking up a tray with several drinks on top. “Come on, you have to! At least give him  _ your _ number if you’re not going to get his.”

 

A minute goes by with heavy consideration and a flurry of thoughts running through Jason’s mind, but he eventually sighs and nods.

 

“Okay, I’ll give him mine.”

 

With the way Tommy cheers and hollers in celebration, it’s a mystery of they didn’t drop the entire tray of beverages. They make sure to give a reassuring smile before heading out to a table of six.

 

Giving a guy your number can’t be  _ that _ hard, right? All Jason has to do is write it down on something, hand it to him, and hope that he calls eventually. Or, at least, that’s probably how it works. He decides to wait until he brings over the check, though. That way it isn’t very awkward, and he can hand it over along with the check. It’ll be perfect.

 

Except, writing his number on a napkin probably wasn’t the greatest idea he’s ever had. It could have been executed better, too. Jason only realizes this after he writes his number down and folds the napkin, sliding it across the boy’s table with a check.

 

“Oh! Thanks,” the boy exclaims, pulling out a pen for signing his signature and— well, he grabs the napkin and uses it.

 

Completely, utterly, misses the number written inside of it to wipe his hands clean.

 

(Cue Tommy Oliver, somewhere near the back, groaning loudly and dramatically in disappointment.)

 

(At least he tried.)

 

The boy leaves soon after, and Jason tries to forget about him.

 

 

It doesn’t work, especially when the boy comes back the very next day at the same exact time.

 

Jason feels his heart stutter the second he sees him walk through the door, wearing a bright blue jacket today. They’re both smiling, apparently, which Jason doesn’t realize until he starts to speak.

 

“Hi. Uh, party size?”

 

“Just one again, thanks,” the boy says, still smiling, looking down as he plays with the zipper of his jacket.  _ How is this boy so cute? It’s really not fair. _

 

Jason leads him to the back of the restaurant again, bringing them to a halt as they reach the same spot from the previous night. When he puts a menu down on top of the table, the boy does this little clapping gesture of excitement.

 

“This is my favorite table,” he says, and sits down in one of the chairs.

 

“I’ll remember that for the future,” Jason says back, trying not to grin like a giant goof. It doesn’t surprise him that the guy orders the same thing as yesterday, either, and Jason gets the feeling that this is going to be a regular occurrence.

 

He holds up fairly well, not as much of a gay mess as he was yesterday. That doesn’t mean Jason isn’t stealing glances at the boy every now and then in the dim lighting of this crowded restaurant; it just means that he has it under control now. Somewhat. Tommy isn’t working today either, which means that his wingman is currently unavailable. No encouraging to go get a phone number.

 

However, he builds up enough confidence to ask for a name.

 

“Hey, uh, what’s your name? If you’re gonna be a regular here, I figured it would be cool to… get to know you.” He sounds so awkward as he places another plate of buffalo wings on the table. What the fuck, Jason? Get it together.

 

“It’s Billy. Billy Cranston,” Billy says, and holds his hand out for a handshake that is accepted eagerly.

 

“I’m Jason.”

 

“Yeah, I figured that was the case from your nametag. Unless you stole someone else’s nametag, which is unlikely.” Billy nods and takes a bite from one of his wings. If it weren’t for the very poor lighting of T.G.I. Friday’s, Jason would be thoroughly embarrassed by the dusting of pink across his cheeks. (He totally forgot that he was even wearing a nametag. Who forgets something like that?)

 

It’s no phone number, but a name is  _ something _ .

 

 

Jason doesn’t work again until two days later, and the first thing he does after clocking in is ask Tommy if Billy had been there at all.

 

“Billy?” Tommy pauses, “OH! The boy you like. Yeah, he was here yesterday. Asked to sit in that same booth again.”

 

The information isn’t shocking in the slightest, so Jason just nods in response.

 

He waits patiently for 6:00 to come around, and as soon as it does, so does Billy. He comes walking in through the front doors with a smile on his face like usual, this time wearing a dark blue sweater. (Internally, Jason makes a note that the color looks good on him.)

 

“Hi, Billy,” Jason says, ignoring how Tommy is snickering in the background. “Party of one?”

 

“Um, no, actually—” Billy says this time, and Jason feels his heart stop momentarily. Is he on a date this time..? Woah. _Get it together, man._ _Even if Billy had a date come along, that doesn’t matter._ It’s none of Jason’s business, really. This is just some crush. Plus, it could just be family or a friend, right?  
  


At that, in comes this boy with jet black hair and a leather jacket, sauntering as if he’s the coolest guy in town.

 

“Hey, dude. Getting our table?” He asks Billy, standing strangely close to him.

 

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Just a party of two today.” Billy nods.

 

Jason tries to keep a smile on his face as he walks them over to Billy’s usual table, and Billy gives him a smile as thanks. He’d remembered after all.

 

As soon as the new guy sits down, he says, “I’ll just have a coke. How about you, B?”

 

“I’m assuming he’ll have a sprite with no ice cubes,” Jason cuts in, and smiles a little at how Billy agrees happily. “And the endless apps with two rounds of buffalo wings and a round of mozzarella sticks.”

 

That really renders Billy’s unknown friend-date speechless, and Jason leaves to fetch their beverages and give Billy’s usual order to the chef. When he heads back, Tommy instantly catches him by the kitchen door.

 

“Who is that with Billy?” They ask, brow raised in suspicion.

 

“I… don’t know. A friend, probably?” Jason says, trying to be hopeful. It helps to have a positive outlook on these kinds of situations. Before he leaves with the drinks, Tommy mumbles something akin to the new guy being ‘ _ too gorgeous’ _ before walking away to one of their tables.

 

He’s bringing over their second round of food when he overhears Billy saying “No, Zack, I’m not going to make that for you. I already have big plans to be working on, and…” The conversation comes to a halt as they both stop to look at Jason, setting down their plates. ( _ Zack _ , huh? Jason will have to remember that.)

 

“Finally! I’m starving.” Zack shouts just before digging into his food, as if he hadn’t just finished an entire plate of loaded potato skins.

 

“Enjoy your meals.” Jason says, but mostly to Billy as he tries not to even look in Zack’s direction. For perfectly normal reasons, of course.   
  


No, he’s totally  _ not  _ jealous right now. That would be ridiculous.   
  


...Okay. Maybe he is.

 

Tommy just gives him a pat on the back whenever they cross paths throughout the hour. Jason eventually requests for them to give Billy the check in his place (with the excuse of having to handle another table, but Tommy can see right through him).

 

From across the room, Jason tries not to notice Billy’s confused expression as Tommy comes over to their table instead, and how Zack seemingly looks around the room. Maybe looking for Jason, maybe not. Who knows.

 

He tries not to let it get to him.

 

 

The next day, Jason literally counts down the minutes to 6:00 with dread, a stark difference from the previous few days. And when Billy shows up, wearing a red t-shirt this time (which, by chance, is Jason’s favorite color) it all goes out the window. Jason is too busy trying not to stare or act out of the ordinary to think about some guy named Zack who  _ might _ have been on a date with Billy.

 

“Hi Jason,” Billy speaks first, his signature smile brightening up the room.

 

“Hi Billy. Table for two again?” Jason asks, holding his breath in anticipation of an answer he doesn’t want to hear.

 

“No, Zack isn’t coming today. He went to the movies with our friends Trini and Kimberly.”

 

Jason scrunches his eyebrows a bit in confusion but nods anyway. He heads to the same back table by instinct, already pulling out his notepad to write down the usual Billy order.

 

“It’s not really my place to ask, but… why are you here alone if your friends are at the movies?” He says as Billy takes a seat. (The same chair every time. The one with a slightly ripped cushion and oddly stands taller than the others.)

 

Billy frowns at the question. “Because I come here every day.”

  
And for some reason, that’s a decent enough answer for Jason. No more inquiries needed.

 

Everything is back to usual, before Zack had suddenly showed up yesterday, and Jason is perfectly fine with that. He brings Billy’s order to the kitchen and then tends to a family of four, with a little girl who is celebrating a 10th birthday. The table is distracting enough that Jason doesn’t realize that Tommy made their way over to Billy at some point, starting a conversation.

 

Then, of course, Jason runs into Tommy in the back, and they have this grin on their face that means that they did  _ something _ suspicious. The words that come out of their mouth are enough to take Jason by surprise:

 

“Your boy is single, you know.”

 

“What?” Jason asks, stopping in his tracks. “How do you know?”

 

Tommy shrugs. “I went over to ask about that guy from yesterday— Zack? Yeah. They aren’t dating, and more importantly, both of them are single.”

 

Jason takes a long moment to process the information after that, feeling more hopeful about his chances now. Then something hits him like a bag of bricks, and he questions, “Wait, why do you care if  _ both _ of them are single?”

 

Tommy just walks away without saying anything, though, leaving Jason to just shake his head. If it weren’t for how busy the restaurant was at the moment, they’d definitely be having a conversation right now. What a mess.

 

When Jason brings over the check to Billy this time, he finally has the confidence to actually ask him out. It took a few minutes of pep talk and deep breathing exercises, but he’s ready to do it. This is the perfect time, and Tommy is probably across the room rooting for him. This is it.

 

But before any words can leave his mouth, Billy looks up at him and says, “Hey, Jason, I think we should hang out this weekend. I mean, we don’t have to, but it would be nice.”

 

And Jason immediately feels his heart skip a beat.

 

“Hang out? Like a date?” Jason asks for clarification, completely shocked by the suddenness of it.

 

“Yeah, like a date.”

 

(...Isn’t it ridiculous how things work out sometimes?)

 

Billy is smiling so proudly in his seat that, even if he  _ wanted _ to, Jason could never say no.

**Author's Note:**

> Hmu @ cabooseachievables for more quality PR content! Also, send me requests if you'd like!
> 
> Happy Cranscott Week :)


End file.
